The second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic has gravely affected the progress of the Jal Jeevan Mission to bring piped water to the masses in Meghalaya.
“Even though it has not completely stopped, the government has given the PHE (Public Health Engineering) Department exemption during the lockdown and the department has issued passes to the contractors executing the work,” PHE Minister Renikton Lyngdoh Tongkhar said today. “But some of the labourers were scared to come out during the pandemic and we could not force them and had to rely on those who came out of their own free will.”
Lockdowns outside the state also had a knock-on effect on Meghalaya. For example, Kolkata is where most of the pipes for the scheme are sourced from and the lockdown there hit work here.
Nevertheless, Tongkhar said that the scheme is progressing very well in Ri-Bhoi district. “Tenders have been called and work also allotted,” the PHE Minister said.
He also assured that within this year the department will be able to show physical progress of the Jal Jeevan Mission, which aims to provide drinking water to 6 lakh households, and up to 40 percent completion by the end of the financial year.
“If we can do so we will be able to achieve 100 percent by the end of 2022, which is our target,” the PHE Minister said.
When the state government had targeted the completion of the JJM by the end of 2022 the pandemic had not begun. Despite the tremendous obstacle that it has posed, the government is still hopeful of meeting the target date.
